Part 2

"Thoughts are the shadows of our feelings - always darker, emptier and simpler."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Chapter 7-First Impressions

Edward for the most part, had his vampire father all figured out. He could usually anticipate the decisions he would make in any given situation. There was the odd time however; that he would do something that would force Edward to question everything he thought he knew. Injecting his venom into the neck of the town's most recognizable girl, engaged to the heir of the largest bank in Rochester was one of those odd times.

Rosalie began to writhe in pain and Edward moved to where Esme stood, stroking her matted hair. He gazed at Carlisle in disbelief as he bit her a second time on her arm, trying to spread the venom quicker.

"Carlisle what are you thinking, Rosalie Hale?!"

Carlisle stood upright and looked at him. Then Edward saw the images flash through Carlisle's mind. Rosalie had been violently raped and battered and then left to die in a corridor in the street. It did not take him to long to guess who the perpetrator was.

"I couldn't leave her to die Edward. It was too much of a waste," Carlisle said.

Edward spoke coldly, "people die every day."

"Yes I am aware of that Edward," Carlisle replied.

"And we fully support Carlisle's decision to save her, don't we Edward?" said Esme, moving to stand beside Carlisle who gave her a look of gratitude.

Edward knew that Carlisle had been beginning to fear that he would leave again, and earlier in the evening, Edward was a footstep away from getting on the train and doing just that. Then it struck Edward, Carlisle was motivated to save Rosalie out of the hope that she would bring Edward some sort of interest and companionship in his lonely existence.

Rosalie's piercing scream echoed through the room once again. Carlisle gave a sincere apologetic look and took her hand in his. Edward stared at the scene in annoyance. Of all people for Carlisle to change, Rosalie Hale, the girl whose dreams and goals were full of nothing but being the richest, most admired woman in the world. She despised Edward the whole time they had been at school together due to him being the only male who had ever ignored her manipulative charms.

"But, Rosalie Hale? I've seen her at school; she's the vilest, most insolent-"

"Edward," Esme snapped. "She can hear you."

He marched out of the room in a fit. Of course it was not that he didn't think what happened to her was horrible, but the irony of Carlisle choosing her of all the girls he could have saved, in the hopes that she would be a distraction to Edward could almost be humorous.

Morning came eventually and Edward pretty much avoided the library completely, though their thoughts still flooded his mind. Rosalie's high pitched screams could be heard from a mile away. Esme's motherly side quickly kicked in and she cleaned her up as best as she could, dressing her in one of her own dresses and washing and untangling her golden locks.

Edward was in his room writing in his journal as he usually did every so often. It was Sunday and he didn't think going back to school would be happening any time soon, now that there would be a newborn wanting to kill every passing human outside. Rosalie would probably need something to sustain her when she became a vampire.

Edward went downstairs and passed the library where Carlisle was flipping through the papers. Esme was in the kitchen, putting away the washbowl she had rinsed Rosalie's hair in. Edward got a large canister from the kitchen cabinet and passed her on his way out.

"Going somewhere?" Esme asked.

"I'm going to fill this up, for her," Edward said, motioning to the direction of the library.

Esme smiled contentedly and Edward quickly added, "I just don't want her terrorizing the whole town."

"I know, I know it's just nice of you to be so thoughtful," Esme said innocently, drying off her hands.

Edward exited through the front door, grinding his teeth together at the fact that Carlisle and Esme could even picture him having feelings for Rosalie of all humans. He shoved the container into his bag and made his way through the forest. Once he located a large deer about a mile away, he snapped its neck so fast it barely knew it was being hunted. That was quick even for him. Edward made sure to puncture the carotid artery of the neck so that blood would drain directly into the container, filling it quickly.

Edward made it back to the house, entering through the back and placing the large container in the fridge, something that was not used by his family often. He glanced into the room, Rosalie was no longer writhing in pain, Edward knew from her thoughts that the pain was beginning to fade. She was still struggling to manage it though and her eyes were shut tight, she was trying to focus on managing the transformation.

Last night Carlisle had tried to explain what was happening to her but she was barely paying attention then. Now Carlisle began to explain again and this time Rosalie focused on his words, still in disbelief but listening. Esme sat in a chair next to her, still stroking her hair consolingly.

Edward heard Rosalie's thoughts, she was thinking about what happened to her, how her life was destroyed; she longed for her death but at the same time, resented it because it would mean that Royce had won. Edward had predicted something like this would happen to whoever came too close to him, he knew the type of person Royce was, knew how little he valued the life of anyone other than himself. Seeing the crime through her mind however, made Edward even more disgusted with all those sorry lowlife humans who did this to her.

Edward perched on the armrest of the couch which Carlisle sat on, facing the bed.

"I rang the hospital; I'm granted two weeks absence. We'll see how things go by then," Carlisle said.

"We'll have to leave if anything goes wrong," Edward said. "And if she decides to reject our way of life and go on some mass killing spree, it could possibly result in a visit from the Volturi."

In many cases, creators have been executed along with their newborns because under "Volturi Rule" they are deemed responsible for controlling and teaching any newborns they create to keep the existence of vampires a secret from humans in every way possible. That is why creating vampire children is such a high offence; they cannot be reasoned with to the extent of a fully grown newborn, they cannot maintain their instincts.

"I know," Carlisle replied. "We will teach her what she has to know and if she still does not want to follow our way of life, she is free to go her own way."

Edward was still unconvinced by his calm and reassuring words, but he dropped the topic and went across the hall to his piano. His fingers stroked the keys softly, he was attempting to drown out the thoughts of everyone around him by focusing on music, but it rarely ever worked. His ability forced him to experience the point of view of everyone around him. Sometimes it was overwhelming but it was useful and he could admit that he would not be the same without his power.

Through the music, Edward heard the frantic, dazzled, confused thoughts of Rosalie and in her mind he saw things from a vampire perspective for the very first time. The transformation was over; Edward was in the library instantly. He stood next to Esme by the door. Rosalie's face and thoughts kept changing emotions; as if she did not know what to feel. She got out of the bed at a sudden vampire speed, shocked by her new ability of movement. She was quickly drawn out of her amazement when she processed another presence in the room. She crouched defensively and Carlisle took a step forward, raising his hand as a sign of peace.

"We mean no harm Rosalie. I am Carlisle Cullen, this is Esme my wife and my son Edward; we are vampires as I explained earlier and the pain you felt was your transformation. You have become one of us."

Rosalie was wondering why her throat was omitting a horrible burning sensation. Instinctively, Edward answered her question,

"Your throat is burning because you need to feed," he said.

She glared in his direction, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. She was remembering him as the boy in her class who always ignored her as if she was not worth his time and remembered the way he spat her name out to Carlisle after she was bitten.

Edward held out the metal canister to her innocently and before eyeing it, she ripped it out of his hand and began gulping the blood down. Edward looked at her disgustedly as she crushed the container with her newborn strength and then handed the broken canister back to Edward. Esme spoke next with her sweet and lovely sounding voice,

"Welcome dear, I know everything seems overwhelming right now but you will grow used to it."

Rosalie straightened up from her defensive position, Esme's female presence in the room put her more at ease. Rosalie spoke quickly but calmer now,

"What about my parents, does anyone know what happened to me? They must be sending a search party."

"Yes they would be looking for you right now, but Rosalie, you cannot go out yet, there are things you must know first," Carlisle said.

"What do you mean I cannot leave?!" Rosalie shouted.

"Look in the mirror and see," Edward said impatiently.

She turned her head to the wall beside her to find the full length mirror hanging from the wall between two bookshelves. She moved like a bolt of lightning to face the mirror. Edward heard her vain thoughts as she assessed her new godlike beauty. She stroked her long blonde hair and her smooth perfectly shaped face and pink lips. Then she noticed her eyes, they were a bright crimson, she spun around.

"My eyes," She said in panic as she pointed to them.

"Your eyes are red because you are a newborn vampire. If you drink the blood of animals as we do, after a few months your eyes will become like ours, if you drink the blood of humans, something we are opposed to, they will stay red, with an exception to black when you are thirsty," Carlisle said.

Rosalie replied, "So they will not be permanent if I drink animal blood?"

Carlisle nodded graciously in response. Then suddenly, through the open window, the sun moved out from behind the clouds and the rays filled the library with light. Again Rosalie was amazed by her own beauty as the light radiated like diamonds off of her skin. She looked at everyone else and saw that the sun did this to them to.

"Beautiful," Rosalie murmured to herself examining the glow of her skin.

Carlisle and Esme smiled with newfound pride when she said that. Edward heard in their thoughts that they had already developed a love for Rosalie as their daughter. Edward rolled his eyes at his parents who gawked at the newborn who was currently bathing in her own vanity and at her dazzling appearance. To think that her biggest motivation to drink animal blood instead of human blood was because she did not like having red eyes, was mind boggling to Edward.

"And Carlisle forgot to mention that we are also immortal," Edward said, ruining the moment when she turned her head to him in shock.

"Immortal!? You mean I'll never die?" She asked angrily.

Edward nodded in response, and then she growled at everyone.

"That's impossible," Edward said in response to her thought of whether or not having children was a possibility.

"How, did you know what I was thinking?!" She spat at Edward.

"Because, I can hear everyone's thoughts," He replied.

This managed to anger her even more and caused a furious hiss to come from her lips and she sprung straight at Edward.

He dodged out of the way before she could grab hold of him and snuck up behind her, pinning her from behind in a lock hold. In an instant, Carlisle was helping as she growled and struggled to break free.

"We will let go if you promise not to attack anyone again, agreed?" Carlisle asked.

It pained Edward when he saw in her mind, a sudden flash of what this was reminding her of and he loosened his grip slightly. After a few seconds of stubborn outrage, Rosalie nodded and they let go.

She glared in disgust at Edward for a moment before she turned to Carlisle and Esme and said,

"My throat is still burning, will it ever go away?"

"That is because you need to hunt. The thirst will be more manageable once you get more blood in your system," Carlisle replied.

"Hunt?" Rosalie said with disgust at the thought of wrestling with wild animals.

"We will teach you how," He said.

"Alright then, let's go," she said with impatience, before she burst out the door at her extreme newborn speed. Edward was the only one -being the fastest of them all- to even attempt to keep up with her.

"Rosalie, wait," Edward called as she ran through the woods, getting a kick out of her new found speed and stamina.

She scowled at the sound of Edward calling her and spat back,

"Why don't you keep up?!"

Edward could already sense that they were not getting off to a good start. What would result from two conflicting personalities being so spontaneously thrown together? Edward could only guess. She had been inserted into the family only a few nights ago and already the two had established their annoyance with each other. Obviously this new "companion" Carlisle had so deliberately made into a vampire was not interacting with Edward or vice-versa, the way he had planned.